Metal seal



T. G. JONES.

METAL SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, I9I9.

1,856,152. 4 Patented 0ct.19,192 0.

UNITED sT -Es PATENT oFF1cE.-

THOMAS, GORDON JONES, or ivnwron'r, ENGLAND.

v METAL Tq alwhomit may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS GORDON specification.

This invention relates to metal seals of the strap type and is more particularly intended for the purpose of securing the doors and windows of railway cars, although it may be used with advantage for securing devices generally where it is desired to prevent them being opened or tampered with by an unauthorized person. I

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention Figure l is a plan of a'metal strap, stamped to the required shape to form the blank. I

Fig. 2 is a plan of the same piece of metal with the flaps hereinafter referred to turned into position. A

Fig. 3 is a section illustrating the bending of the tongues at the end B.

Fig. 4: is a perspective View showing the seal secured and also illustrating the covering member provided to protect the springs from interference.

The strap or device is stamped, wise formed, as shown at Fig. 1.

At the end stamped out hole a, into which 2. lug b projects, as clearly seen in the drawing.

At the opposite end B, the metal is stamped with two flaps c and d, and with two spring tongues s and t, the tongue at being stamped in the tongue 8 and pointing in the reverse direction thereto.

The flaps c and cl are then folded or turned over along the lines 6 f and g h F ig. 1 until they come into the position shown at Fig. 2 at a suitable distance above the surface of the strap and the tongues s and t; the spring 3 being pushed upwarduntil it is held by the shoulders p and g of the flaps. The small spring 25 is pushed well down and then its point is elevated until it is almost upon a level with the spring 8.

The edge of the lug b is also elevated slightly. g

A suitable covering is provided, indicated diagrammatically by dotted lines at Fig. 4.

or other- Specification of Letters Patent.

A it is provided with a.

Y Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

Application filed September 15, 1919. Serial No. 323.878.

Thiscover is fixed over the shoulders e' f, g h of the flaps, both above and below, and may be cylindrical or egg shaped.

To use the seal, the end A is inserted through the hole in the iron catch of a truck door and through the iron loop fixed to the door way, in the case of securinga truck door. The end-is then bent over and inserted in the'gap indicated beneath the projecting lug r and the point a. It passes over the upper surface of the spring 8, forcing the latter down until the point of the lug 7) passes the point of the spring 5, when the latter springs upward resuming its original position. The end A is then withdrawn along the under surface of the spring .8, until the upper surface of the said spring 8 is caught by the shoulders 39 g, and held fast. As the lug b is drawnalong. the-under surface of the small spring 25, the latter is forced slightly upward. On pushing the end A forward once more, the edge 76 Z of the hole a (see Fig. 2) is caught by the under surface of the small spring 25 and held. The end A is now secured, so that it can neither be pushed forward nor pulled backward. Moreover it cannot be maneuvered from side to side.

The action is of course the same when ap plying the device for securing a truck window or other device. 4 Metal band seals have already been proposed in which an end, protected by a covering, is formed of a locking spring upon which an aperture in a bent tongue formed at the opposite end of the band engages.

Devices of this description do not afford the security obtained with those constructed according to my invention.

It will be seen that the present device provides an additional means of engaging the tongue, namely the second spring stamped'out of the main spring in. the reverse direction, which prevents thetongue, when once secured, from being moved-longitudinally in a forward direction. In addition, owing to the construction and arrangement of the flaps, one on either side of the inclosed end, the space in which the main spring, and hence the tongue, can be maneuvered longitudinally in a, backward direction is restricted, and the tongue cannot be maneuvered laterally in an effort to disengage it.

WVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States of America 1s 1. A metal seal of the strap type comprising an elongated metal strip provided at one end with a hole, a tongue projected partly across said hole and located centrallysite thereto, for the purposes set forth.

2. A metal seal of the strap type comprising an elongated metal strip provided at one end with a hole, a tongue projecting partly across said hole and located centrally thereof, said tongue being elevated from the strip toward its free end, flaps at the opposite sides at the opposite end of said strip and folded over toward one another so as to leave a space between the strip and the flaps to receive the opposite end of the strip, a spring stamped up from the strip between the flaps and having its. free end pointing toward the adjacent end of the strip, a second spring stamped out of the first mentioned spring and having its free end directed oppositely thereto, the first in oneend of said strip, a lug projecting partly across the center of said hole and having its free end directed away from the adjacent end of the strip, a spring stampedup from the strip in the neighborhood of its opposite end, and corresponding in width to the width of said hole, a second spring stamped up from said first mentioned spring and corresponding in width to the width of the lug at the opposite end ofthe strip, the points of said springs being directed in opposite directions, a flap on one side of said strip adjacent said springs, a-second flap on the opposite side of said springs, so that their outer edges face one another to produce a guideway through which the opposite end of said elongated strip is passed, said springs and the lug projecting across the recess the one of the strips being elevated from said strip to enable the same to be interlocked for the purpose set forth.

Dated this 18th day of August 1919.

THOMAS GORDON JONES. 

